You're Worth the Shot
by vivelatinarv
Summary: His bow clanged the moment it collided with the ground and he thumped onto his knees. He was powerless, wounded to the point where he could no longer will his body to move. Trembling, she raised her bow and drew her arrow. With just the slip of her fingers she could shoot him, she could end this. ...She still loved him. (Sakura and Takumi)


**Violence, character death, graphic description, ooc**

 **A/N: This story takes place in a world where Hoshido is implied to be just as, or maybe even more corrupt than Nohr. As such, most of the characters are ooc in some way, shape or form.**

* * *

His bow clanged the moment it collided with the ground and he thumped onto his knees. He trembled profusely, and it was only then she noticed the blood stains and ragged tears on his clothing. He was powerless, wounded to the point where he could no longer will his body to move.

She stood silently, contemplating her next actions. Trembling, she raised her bow and drew her arrow. With just the slip of her fingers she could shoot him, she could end this.

 _...She still loved him._

* * *

 _Sakura was happy the day her brother said he'd teach her archery. The young princess had admired his skills with a bow for as long as she could remember and she'd always wanted to learn to shoot like him. He used to refuse teaching her, stating that she was too young for something so dangerous. Now that she was older, she supposed he finally saw her fit._

 _Takumi had brought her through the woods near their castle and all the way to an archery range he had set up. He'd assembled it secretly without the knowledge of their older brother Ryoma and their mother._

 _Sakura found that strange. She loved Ryoma and their mother dearly, and yet Takumi was always distant, always hiding things from them..._

 _Sakura was happy that Takumi was at least open with her._

" _Just in case," he had told her when she asked him why he finally decided to teach her archery. "You never know, something could happen. At any moment. You'll have to be prepared for when something happens...so even if I'm gone you'll be safe."_

 _He smiled softly as he looked at her and though he would appear happy to most, Sakura swore there was something more dismal past that smile of his._

* * *

 _Sakura was walking to her room when she'd heard muffled voices from behind the wall. She couldn't discern who they belonged to, but they sounded familiar. Curiosity piqued, she cupped her ear and pressed it to the door._

" _You...didn't have to...!" It was Takumi._

 _She tried listening in even closer. The voices were still somewhat muffled by the door. She couldn't make out every single word but regardless she paid close attention._

" _...told you! As a prince of Hoshido you...necessary precaution for our kingdom..." That was surely Ryoma; her brothers seemed to be arguing about something. Sakura had no clue on what that 'something' was, however._

" _...they were innocent, brother!"_

" _I don't care! Anyone who dares to get in my way will be...!" The door was flung open, knocking Sakura onto the floor._

 _Out the door came her mother who panicked at the sight of her daughter on the floor. She quickly closed the door and stooped down, helping Sakura back onto her feet._

" _Sakura, what are you doing here? You should be asleep in your room! Let's go, shall we?" Persistently, she took Sakura's hand, intent on guiding her back to her bedroom._

 _When her mother had taken one step down the hall, the door was flung open once more. Out walked Takumi who slammed the door shut with a deafening slam. He turned to glare angrily at his mother. His eyes were wide, his teeth gritted together. Sakura was intimidated, she had never seen her brother so angry._

 _Takumi held his furious gaze until he saw his sister shivering at the sight of him. In an instant, Takumi's face changed from a look of anger to a look of...regret? He stood in place momentarily, staring at Sakura. He took a deep breath, gave his mother another cold glance, turned, and ran down the hall._

 _Sakura's hand felt warm in her mother's grip, but the rest of her body felt cold. She was scared and couldn't understand why._ _Holding desperately onto her mother's hand, Sakura let herself be lead back to her bedroom._

* * *

 _Screams of anguish rang across the castle as Hoshidan soldiers were slaughtered one after another. They'd be_ _en caught off guard; the enemy struck right when they were most vulnerable._

 _Sakura hid fearfully in a closet. Clenching her eyes shut she pressed her palms as tightly as she could against her ears, intent on blocking out every single thud and scream from outside her hiding place._

 _She was afraid for herself, for her kingdom, but most of all for her family. She had no idea where they were or how they were faring. What of her brothers? She'd been with them before but lost them amidst the chaos. Were they fighting right now? Were they injured? Had they been captured - were they already dead? What of their mother-_

 _The closet door swung open and Sakura screamed. She sat petrified until she realized it was Ryoma at the door. He held a sword in his hand. He was safe and armed. Sakura was relieved, even if only a little. She threw her arms around her brother and clutched onto him tightly, shaking._

 _Ryoma had just wrapped his free arm around his trembling little sister when a shrill scream came from outside. Ryoma slid the door to the courtyard open, blood running cold at the sight before him._

 _Their mother lay upon the grass, arrows protruding from her feeble body._

 _Ryoma dashed to where she lay, abandoning Sakura who stood petrified where Ryoma had been._

 _She stared right at her mother's half-lidded eyes and saw how she struggled to keep them open. Her brother's arms shook as he held their mother just slightly above the ground. Her mother's lips moved, but Sakura stood too far to hear her._

 _A chill shot down Sakura's spine. Just from reading her lips, Sakura knew what her mother was trying to say. Judging from how Ryoma's body froze she knew he had gotten the same message._

 _Sakura watched until her mother's arms dropped onto the ground, until her form moved no more. Ryoma laid her gently on the ground, his head low, long bangs blocking his expression._

* * *

 _Sakura knelt on the floor, her face planted on her bed. Her arms were sprawled over her head and on the bed, gripping the bedsheets in her tight grip. Takumi was nowhere to be found after the attack. Deep inside, she knew where he had gone but she desperately denied it; telling herself that 'he would never,' 'he had no reason to.'_

 _At the sound of her door opening, she lifted her face from her bed. Slowly it opened, revealing Ryoma. He looked so crestfallen; he'd wiped his tears away but his eyes were still red and swollen._

" _We know who killed mother."_

 _Sakura tried responding, but found herself unable to speak. She could only mouth her words, but that was enough as Ryoma furrowed his eyebrows, nodding slightly. Sakura balled her fists at her side, gripping them so tight that her nails dug into her skin._

 _Ryoma took a deep breath and spoke._

" _...Takumi, he's not one of us anymore."_

* * *

The battle raged all around her. Now an experienced soldier and archer, Sakura fought alongside her kingdom's people on the battlefield. After years of struggle, they mustered their courage and delved into enemy territory. They had arrived to avenge the death of their queen. It was Sakura's reason to become a soldier, or at least one of them.

"For the peace and safety of my kingdom," she would tell anyone inquiring why she had joined the army. However, if she were being honest it wasn't the real reason why.

Looking into the distance, she noticed a familiar archer rush into the enemy's castle. Instincts suddenly ruling all conscious thoughts, Sakura rushed to follow whoever it was.

 _'Could it be?'_

She fought her way past the bloody onslaught, far from her army and into the castle entrance she'd seen him run through.

* * *

She ran frantically through the halls, through the vast network of doors and passageways searching for him. She'd been searching for an obscene amount of time and knew her army was probably looking for her, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to give up.

She peeked into every room, ran through every hall until eventually she came across a shattered vase surrounded by a pool of blood. She saw a blood trail leading down the hall and into a nearby room. The doors to the room were left wide open. She followed the trail and ran into the room. Her breath caught in her throat.

There he was. Takumi stood in the center of the room in front of...a body? She peered closer. There lay Ryoma, covered in blood, arrows protruding from his unmoving form. Trembling in fear, she shifted her gaze from where Ryoma lay to where Takumi stood.

His eyes were wide, having recognized her. They both stood motionless, staring at each other in disbelief.

His bow clanged the moment it collided with the ground, and Takumi thumped onto his knees. He trembled profusely, and it was only then Sakura noticed the blood stains and ragged tears on his clothing. He was powerless, wounded to the point where he could no longer will his body to move.

She stood silently, contemplating her next actions. Trembling, she raised her bow and drew her arrow. With just the slip of her fingers she could shoot him, she could end this.

She took a look at Takumi. His hair was now much longer than it had been before and his outfit wasn't what he wore when he fought for his homeland, but despite everything it was still him. He was still her brother, her precious brother.

She looked Takumi in the eyes, fingers ready to release an arrow into his heart but the longer she looked at his crestfallen expression, the weaker she felt. She wanted nothing more than to be with him again.

Frantic stomping could be heard from the hall, familiar voices were calling desperately for her, for Princess Sakura. They were searching for her. At any moment they would find them and they would take Takumi. They'd take Takumi back to his homeland, where he belong-

" _...Takumi, he's not one of us anymore."_

Sakura felt her heart beat accelerate. Her body convulsed, her breathes came in short, shaky gasps.

She glanced into Takumi's eyes, only to see that they were...relieved? Though melancholic, he seemed content and at peace.

His lips curved up into a small smile, and tears streamed down Sakura's face. Nodding slightly, she held her bow as steadily as she could and took the shot.


End file.
